DoD News

News Article

Brain Injury Awareness Bike Ride Turns to Mission of Compassion

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 16, 2001  It started as a way to raise awareness, it continued as a mission to let those in New York and at the Pentagon know that America cares for them.

Lee Anne Barry set off on a bicycle Aug. 25 to ride across the United States. Barry, a 37-year-old preschool teacher from Charlotte, N.C., left Morro Bay, Calif. Barry, who suffered a traumatic brain injury when she was five, saw her ride as a challenge and a way to publicize this silent affliction. More than 1.5 million Americans sustain traumatic brain injuries each year. Many are unaware they have been hurt.

Her mission changed when she and her husband, Ben, reached Denver Sept. 11. "We were in Denver staying at a friend's house," she said. "We were getting ready to start when my friend's roommate called and said, 'Turn on the TV.'

"We turned it on just as the second plane flew into the World Trade Center." Like the rest of America, Barry watched the coverage.

"Lee Anne didn't want to go forward, she was so devastated," Ben said.

"My spirit was broken," she said. "All I could think of was all those people."

But she did continue, with a twist. "We got cards together, one for the families in New York and another for those in the Pentagon and we've been having people sign them as we've gone across the country," she said. She said she got a special card from the people of Oklahoma City. "They know what New York and Washington are going through."

Crossing the country by bike means she stays off the main roads. "The people of these little towns we stopped at feel terrible and want to do something," Ben said.

"People do want to do something," Quigley said. "This gives them a very real connection to the people here and in New York."

Barry is continuing from Virginia to present another card to rescue workers in New York. Then she will continue on, finishing her bike ride Oct. 29 in Augusta, Maine.

"I had a brain injury when I was five. I was hit by a car," she said. "I spent a month in a coma and went through all the rehab. God has worked miracles in my life. It's amazing I'm still alive. That's one of the things I hope this bike ride does -- give those in recovery hope that life can go on."

Allan I. Bergman, chief of the Brain Injury Association; Ben and Lee Anne Barry; and Rear Adm. Craig Quigley hold the card the Barrys delivered to Pentagon officials expressing sorrow and Americans' support for the victims of the Sept. 11 attack. Lee Anne Barry was bicycling cross country to raise awareness about traumatic brain injuries and had reached Denver when the attacks occurred. The Barrys got special cards and began collecting signatures along the way for the Pentagon and New York City. Photo by Jim Garamone.Download screen-resolutionDownload high-resolution

Lee Anne Barry (left) shows Rear Adm. Craig Quigley the "card" expressing support from people all across America to the victims of the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon. Barry was bicycling cross country to raise awareness about traumatic brain injuries and had reached Denver when the attacks occurred. She and her husband, Ben, got special cards and began collecting signatures along the way for the Pentagon and New York City. Photo by Jim Garamone. Download screen-resolutionDownload high-resolution

Lee Anne Barry, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley and Ben Barry look over the "card" expressing support from people all across America for the victims of the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon. Lee Anne Barry was bicycling across the country to raise awareness about traumatic brain injuries when the attacks occurred. The Barrys got special cards in Denver and began collecting signatures along the way for the Pentagon and New York City. Photo by Jim Garamone. Download screen-resolutionDownload high-resolution